Germination of Barley Pollen

The artificial germination of plant pollens has met with varying success. As a whole, the pollen of the Gramineae has proved very difficult to germinate. While experiments with the pollen of many plants have resulted not only in ready germination but in satisfactory methods of preserving the pollen for considerable periods of time, the results with many of the Gramineae have been far from satisfactory. This is especially true of self-fertilized forms, for many of which no artificial germination of pollen has been secured. The pollen of corn, on the other hand, was germinated readily by Andronescu (i). It is believed that the pollen studies reported herein record the first artificial germination of barley pollen. These studies grew out of a series of observations made by the junior author on the lateral florets of 2-row barley. The stamens of these florets are sometimes abortive, sometimes rudimentary, and sometimes well developed, producing abundant pollen. In an attempt to classify these variations,, the question naturally arose as to whether or not this pollen was viable in all cases, and for such determination a reliable method of artificial germination obviously was desirable. It was to fill this need that the investigation was undertaken. The senior author was associated in barley investigations at that time, and the original project was intended to be a joint study. As it turned out, however, practically all of the laboratory studies were made by the senior author, while the field experiments were contributed by the junior author.